Low-Dollar Paint

Looking for a major image upgrade? Nothing impacts the street crowd more than a fresh new paint job. While many of us are willing to rebuild an engine, the thought of hassling with paint just doesn't present the same appeal. And while the amateur painter may concentrate on color and how it's applied, the real key to a great paint job is preparation.

Here's the hot tip if you don't have $3,000 sitting idly in your jeans: Prep the car yourself. By removing the big parts and most of the chrome, masking what can't be removed, and sanding your car thoroughly with 280-grit sandpaper, you'll save yourself some serious cash. In addition, we filled the small chips in the paint with spot putty purchased from the local auto parts store, sanding them down flush after thorough drying.

Our next step was to find a local high-volume paint shop and have them complete the bodywork, prep, and then paint the Camaro. The Earl Schieb Paint & Body shop was close by, so we checked them out. While we were skeptical about the quality of the prep and even of the paint used, we were impressed with the final product which not only drastically transformed our '70 Z28 Camaro, but still looks good after three months of abuse. Best of all, the deal was $300 for paint and an additional $300 for the bodywork, plus the cost of the other parts we added. We feel we got the best end of that deal!

As the brochure contends, Earl Schieb's new Euro-Paint is based on the paint formulas used by European luxury car makers like BMW and Mercedes. It is 100 percent acrylic enamel which produces not only an excellent gloss, but offers great resistance to sun and environmental nastiness like bird droppings and fuel spillage. In addition, Earl Schieb backs the paint against fading with the best warranty in the business.

To complement our Camaro paint scheme, we relied on the folks at D &R Classic Automotive to supply some classic Camaro parts. Rust at the rear of the front wheel well opening meant it was time to change the front fenders. Two reproduction front fenders were ordered and installed by the Earl Schieb folks as part of the deal. In addition, we installed a fiberglass RS grille surround to complement the new one. The fiberglass unit replaced the original enduro nose piece which had warped so badly that the internal grille components were no longer housed completely within the surround.

In addition to the body parts, we completed the renovation of the Camaro with new RS bumpers, a full complement of Z28 emblems, a new heater core while the front fenders were off, and new window trim all around. The resulting improvement was nothing less than outstanding.

The final detail work took a great number of hours, as is the case with most paint jobs. We detailed under the hood, appropriately enough, with Eastwood Underhood Black and covered the underside with a D & R Classic underhood insulation package. The photos only do partial justice to the amazing difference this effort produced. Nice job guys.